It is remarkable that on an island as small as Ireland that there is such a disparity in weather. Much of the eastern and southern parts of the country are contending with soil moisture deficits (SMD) of 50mm to upwards of 80mm. There is no clear consistent definition of a drought, but Met Éireann states it is generally defined “as a period of abnormally dry weather over an extended period”.
An agricultural drought refers to “a shortage of precipitation during the growing season that impinges on agricultural activities leading to increased SMD that restricts growth”. The SMD model ranges from -10mm where ground is waterlogged to 75+mm that indicates drought conditions.
In meteorological terms “an absolute drought is a period of 15 or more consecutive days with less than 0.2 mm on each”. Whichever the definition, the reality is that many parts of the country are contending with increasingly challenging conditions, with grass growth at a standstill in the worst affected areas and down to a very low level in others.
The best chance of working your way through these conditions and putting the farm in a position of getting back to normal as soon as possible once rain arrives is taking stock of grass supply and demand, putting plans in place for that moment in time and reviewing continually.
As such, the Irish Farmers Journal has altered our focus topics to bring you information that will hopefully provide assistance in putting plans in place for your farming system. See also pages 28 and 29.
It is also important to keep an eye on your winter feed budget after a late spring when fodder reserves were dipped in to. A milking cow will eat 18kg dry matter daily (DM/day), a dry or suckler cow about 12kg DM/day and ewes from 1.1kg to 1.2kg DM/day.
SHARING OPTIONS